The Indian hockey team’s European tour may have produced mixed results so far, but chief coach Jose Brasa says he’s not worried. For the Spaniard, the tour is about learning — both for the players and the team management.

“We are trying to give maximum playing time to every player and trying and testing players in different roles, experimenting with them and the combinations,” Brasa told The Indian Express from Terrassa in Spain. “We are here to improve as a team, to adjust to new things and get proper coordination, among the support staff and between us and the players, and we must use this opportunity to learn to win,” he added.

Having lost the three-test series against England 2-1 and having won by the same margin against Belgium, this is the crucial leg for the Indians, given that Spain and Holland are ranked third and fourth in the world respectively. “Our aim is to prepare a team for the future. Indians are prisoners of today. They want results now, immediately, and they are not willing to wait,” he said.

India lost their first match to Spain 8-2 on Saturday but won a 35-minute game on Monday. And Brasa admitted that last-minute goals in a 70-minute game are a problem. “If it happens too often in crucial games, I feel it is more a reaction to what happened another day, another time in a previous match. It’s a problem that requires a long-term solution, not stop-gap arrangements,” he said.

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